Build a Website That Cultivates Connections With Clients
Digital marketing is an ever-moving entity but does contain some constants. For example, cultivating connections with clients over a digital marketing platform is more relevant than ever in our digital age.
For more information, check out Episode 12 and Episode 13 of The Beacon Way, where we discuss how a website is the cornerstone of digital marketing campaigns and how building a home and about page that people want to read will benefit your business.
Transparency in Price Listing on Your Website: A Recommended Do or a DON’T?
Prices on your web pages are a controversial subject among business owners and digital marketers. The Beacon Way highlights transparency as one of our values — so we believe this is a marketing strategy that should be considered.
Potential customers are looking for information when they visit your website; it’s part of the customer journey.
We believe that an effective digital marketing strategy should include allowing your website to prescreen visitors to funnel in your target audience and we’ll discuss that more in depth a little later in the blog.
Dig Deep: Sharing Guidelines for Service Pages
Standard logic in website design for service and product pages is, “This is what we offer and this is what we do ~ Click this widget and you’re in!” This is only the surface of what your website should offer, but have you considered going deeper?
Potential customers have already used digital channels and are visiting your site. They’re spending time on the Home page and the About page — getting to know you. We want to emphasize that you cannot overshare information on your service pages.
Digital marketing using Google Analytics and search engine optimization allows your pages to rank well and we recommend focusing those marketing efforts into content marketing on your service pages.
Your target audience has found you! Now it’s time to answer their questions about the services you provide. Establishing your authority on a subject is not just a marketing strategy — it’s a way to earn the trust of your reader and increase conversions.
Style Matters: Visual Appeal in a Virtual World
Content marketing strategy is an important component of your service and product pages. Certain industries need to consider more education for their services that they know won’t convert as easily as others.
Botox, for example, has done a great job in marketing itself. They have used multiple channels to educate the consumer on who they are and what their product does. This type of service won’t need as much education as a lesser-known service.
By focusing your digital marketing efforts on developing a content-rich service page, you’ll create an environment where your higher-end, lesser-known services will convert more easily by providing your visitor with a really good education.
Social proof, visuals, links, and blogs are a great way to keep the conversation going. Potential customers want to have plenty of research under their belt and see the experience of others who have used your services. The bottom line: They need reassurance before making a big purchase from you.
How to Communicate What You Know: Developing a Content Marketing Strategy
When considering your content marketing strategy, how will you get the information out there for new and current prospective customers?
You already know the knowledge base your clients are coming to you with, consider what other services may they be interested in and searching for on social media channels or anywhere online.
The Beacon Way recommends that a service page should contain about 2000 words to be successful in the search engine optimization arena.
Check out how Beacon Media + Marketing has designed our Service Pages here https://www.beaconmm.com/marketing-services/
That’s a lot of content! So, part of your digital marketing strategy should be how you will visually arrange that to keep the attention of the reader and keep them on your page.
Linking blogs and other information keeps your reader on your page — which pleases the search engines ranking algorithms and serves to educate your website visitor.
They may want to read more information from those blogs that originate from your site or they will hit your Call-To-Action button. Either way, it’s a win for you!
Digital Marketing Channels: Be Prepared to Shift Strategies
Digital marketing strategies change in the digital marketing channels and you need to be prepared to make shifts as they make these changes.
In the past, Google ads used to consider it acceptable to send the user to your general services page when pay-per-click advertising was used. That is not the case any longer, now it’s important for Google ads to have the specific information match up to the specific service on your page.
Circling back to the Botox example, PPC campaigns for an application of facial Botox, as opposed to other application places, should lead website traffic to facial Botox.
So social media advertising has become a lot more specific and picky about how it is applied as opposed to the traditional search engine marketing methods that were used in years past.
Breaking out your services can seem a little repetitive but potential customers want to learn about Botox and they are sent to the homepage, which can be very annoying. A digital marketing strategy should always consider the User’s experience.
UX and Multiple Service Pages: Why it Matters
In Episode 12 of The Beacon Way, we discussed the Homepage of your website and why that matters— it’s a digital introduction to your business. The service page act as a digital marketer (and sales agent) for those who are interested in learning more about what you do.
Using a digital marketing strategy with multiple service pages serves to break up the content and allow the user to spend more time on your site — and increase the odds of them continuing to explore what you offer.
If your site is full of pop-ups or doesn’t direct them to the subject the ad promised, the bounce rate skyrockets. Google Analytics has figured this out and they will de-rank your digital advertising and charge you more to run those ads.
In addition to a skyrocketing bounce rate and ad spend, it’s counterintuitive to what the digital marketing strategy was created for.
Other sources of social media marketing campaigns, like Facebook, may not apply these changes but instead will be initiated by the user because they want to be redirected to the subject they’re looking for, so the bounce rate will still be high in this circumstance as well.
Listing Your Pricing Online: Why The Beacon Way Encourages It
As we stated previously, this controversial subject has been a point of contention among digital marketers for a very long time. Here at Beacon, we decided the risk is worth it.
Understandably, the reasoning against this online marketing strategy is valid. It can feel like you’re giving away your secret sauce and all your competitors are going to go on the offensive to drive pricing down.
The truth is that everyone is searching for that information. In fact, one of our best-performing blogs is https://www.beaconmm.com/2020/04/30/how-much-does-cost-hire-agency/.
This blog gets so much website traffic because current and prospective customers are searching for a range of costs that they can expect for the services they want to contract.
This not only helps them plan, but it also serves a few other purposes as well.
- It can pre-qualify or disqualify leads, saving Sales time and unproductive appointments.
- It helps keep sticker shock at bay by outlining expense expectations for your future clients.
Potential customers will know if their budget supports more investigation into hiring us as their digital marketing partner.
At the time of the sales call, they come in prepared for the costs expected from the list of services you offer — which helps them decide on services that are the most important to them.
Staying Competitive: Offer a Range instead of Hard and Fast Numbers
Digital marketing techniques employed in your strategy are unique to you and what you want to present to the world. It’s ok to not reveal all the ingredients in your secret sauce!
Beacon Media + Marketing has a variety of packages we offer for our digital marketing services. Not all websites we design cost the same and therefore our pricing has to be different for each project.
Our web design services start at $3500 and can range to $50,000 depending on the client’s needs.
We offer a range based on the work that needs to be done and the client’s approach to services. No matter where the price point starts, be transparent and explain the why behind the pricing.
Check out our ever-evolving Web Design page here for inspiration and reach out to our top-notch sales team to discuss our web packages!
Highlight Your Values in Your Marketing Strategy
Your services may range higher than a competitor, and that’s ok! Consider what makes you different and why you charge more, using that to your advantage. We talk so much about how transparency breeds trust and this area is no different.
Wendy’s Burger King, and McDonald’s would generally be considered apples-to-apples competitors until Wendy’s decided to highlight the value that they have for serving menu items it deems as fresher than the competition.
Wendy’s digital marketing tactics were to come right out and say this is who we are, why we do what we do, and why are prices are different from our competitors.
Make your case and stand behind it, let your digital marketing work to grab the attention of those target customers.
The Price Matters
Check out Episode 10: Brand Messaging Part 3
In Episode 10, we talked about the pricing triangle: speed, price, and quality. One will always suffer, so make that part of your why.
Perhaps your business charges more for services because you have an expert in that field and your client will be receiving higher-quality services from that provider. This will either matter to the client or it won’t. But in either case, it will help vet the client before they come into your sales funnel.
If price matters over quality for that client and they pass you by, consider that a gift. It more than likely would have led to a difficult client relationship in regard to price.
Talking Money Shouldn’t Be a Taboo
One of the best examples we’ve seen of this is a digital marketing agency that said their minimum buy-in was $5000 a month.
They wrote a great blog story on their values, how they treat their staff, how long the staff retention is, how long client retention is, and how all of those things go together.
Yes, $5000 a month can be a bit much for some to start with, but the results will speak for themselves and the transparency of this agency that was laid before potential clients was evidence of that.
Oftentimes, pricing conversations are the most awkward part of the sales process. No one really likes to talk about money, so taking that guesswork out of the sales conversation provides a certain comfort level with both parties and removes a huge barrier to conversion.
You can assume that nine times out of ten, they’ve already been to your website, looked at your prices, and decided they are comfortable continuing the conversation with you.
The fewer barriers you have to overcome in the sales process, the better the experience will be for all involved.
Use a Measure of Caution: Don’t Bait and Switch
The fastest way to lose a client with internet marketing is to claim one thing on your website and tell them something different when you meet with them. People want to buy from others they know, like, and trust.
Using the bait-and-switch method is not only counterproductive but unethical as well. It may serve to get some quick business in the door — but it is not a good way to create long-term business relationships.
We’ve done it both ways at Beacon. We’ve published our prices and removed them — so we truly understand the risk in what we’re advising you to do with your pricing.
Overall, we believe that the risk is worth it because we’ve seen it pay off for business owners time and time again.
Not only will you gain a different position in the market, but you’ll also see more traffic, and people will trust you more because you’re willing to be transparent.
Don’t be afraid to tell your story and go deeper into the “why” behind your pricing structure. Believe it or not, you’re not just competing on price.
The Parable of the Dryer Ball
Have you ever looked for something silly and thought, “Oh! I’ll just pop on Amazon real quick and pick this item up.” One day as Adrienne was shopping for some plastic dryer balls, she got sucked in by the word “organic” and the story of a company selling dryer balls made of wool.
The story went on about how wool was sourced from a specific organic farm in New Zealand that detailed how they cared for the sheep and she was hooked!
Price didn’t matter at that point because of the investment and connection she felt with the farm that was being supported by this company — and the beautiful lives of the sheep they took the wool from.
When people connect to your story and align themselves with the values you communicate in that story, suddenly the investment isn’t as shocking or jarring as it could have been for them because they believe in who you are and what you’re doing.
Go Deep and Leverage the Power of Your Story
Whether you’re in digital marketing, traditional marketing, or another industry, your story has power.
Human connection in digital channels can be one of your greatest assets. Our digital society has opened a world of connectivity for your story and your business — much greater than in direct mail or offline marketing.
Ask probing questions, be transparent, live your values in your business and you’ll authentically connect to those who share those same values. We guarantee it’s worth the risk.
Join us for more episodes of The Beacon Way as we continue to talk about how to leverage your website to Grow, Scale, and Thrive!
